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One company received R7 million from the Lottery Commission.
- Venalor is a non-profit company that has received more than R7 million from the Lottery.
- But neither the company nor the National Lottery Commission will say what the company does or what projects were financed by the Lottery.
- Prominent businesswoman Carol Bouwer is one of the three directors of Venalor.
The directors of a mysterious non-profit company that has received more than R7 million in Lottery funding have declined to say what the company does.
Carol Bouwer, a former Generations actress and talk show host turned entrepreneur, is one of the three directors of Venalor NPC. The other two directors are Athina Christians and Hazel Sithole. Venalor received R4.7 million in Lottery funds in fiscal year 2018/2019, and R2 million and R292,300 respectively in August and November 2019.
The company also received a 100,000 rand grant from the National Lottery Commission (NLC) Covid-19 relief fund, aimed at helping nonprofits “struggling to stay afloat during this time.”
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That means Venalor received a total of R7 064 480 between 2018 and 2020.
But it is unclear what Venalor does, which was registered as a non-profit company in 2012. GroundUp has searched the internet using various search engines and has not found any company website or any online activity or accounts to its name on social media platforms. We tried to visit the company premises, but the security guards told us that we had to make an appointment.
When responding via WhatsApp, Bouwer did not respond to questions emailed to him. These included inquiries about the type of business Venalor is involved in, a request for links to the company’s website and social media accounts, and links to any online advertisements about the funded projects. Bouwer was also asked to share the questions with his fellow directors, but none responded.
Agreement
Bouwer simply said: “… we have signed a grant agreement with the NLC, so everything about our projects is contained in the progress reports we have submitted to [the] NLC. In addition, we not only have extensive media coverage of the funded projects, all with the NLC brand so that our clients can be aware of the support, but we also use social media to create visibility of their support.
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“As an organization, we are proud of our record of being agents of change when it comes to the arts, empowering women and supporting marginalized groups, including LGBTIQ + communities.
“With regard to the aid fund for organizations in difficulties, we refer you to the call for the aid fund of [the] NLC and its purposes “.
When GroundUp repeated our request for more information on Venalor, Bouwer did not respond.
Details
Questions emailed by GroundUp to Ndivhuho Mafela, the NLC’s communications chief, were ignored. These included a request for details of Venalor projects funded by the Lottery. Receipts were received showing that the email had been read from both Mafela and Gugulethu Yako, the NLC’s legal manager.
According to the records of the Business and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), Venalor shares facilities with Carol Bouwer Productions and several other Bouwer companies in a listed building on Church Square in Cape Town.
Bouwer is an active director of 24 different companies involved in a variety of activities, according to the CIPC. These include television productions and event planning, luxury goods such as designer handbags and bespoke cutlery, art awards, and trade and investment companies.
Waste
Carol Bouwer Productions appeared in a scathing report by Public Protector about a splurge of 70 million rand on memorial services for Nelson Mandela in Mpumalanga after his death in 2013, which was organized by Bouwer’s company. Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that while the company was paid R44.2 million and had paid other service providers, there was no evidence to show how much they had received.
Mkhwebane found that the Mpumalanga Prime Minister’s Office “irregularly appointed” Carol Bouwer Productions and ruled that “all” of the R70 million spent on the monuments was “irregular” as Treasury guidelines and the Management Act had been violated. of Public Finance. Furthermore, Carol Brouwer Productions had never received an official letter of appointment.
In 2015, City Press reported that Mpumalanga CEO Nonhlanhla Mkize had appointed Carol Bouwer Productions, who had collected R8.2 million for the main event alone. Other company charges included R2.9 million for “infrastructure,” R1.4 million for audio, an administration fee of R2.3 million and a “contingency fee” of R782,000. Carol Bouwer Productions also claimed R3.6 million for 100,000 T-shirts and R2.1 million for 500,000 bottles of water.
Despite the Hawks saying they would investigate the Mpumalanga memorial events, three years later no action was taken against anyone.
